Conventional shoes designed for selective use as either a shoe or roller skate generally relate to "collapsible" roller skates wherein rollers are provided in preformed depressions in the sole of said shoe and are partially releasable in response to a suitable release means so that at least a portion of each roller will extend from its respective depression, said release means generally serving to support said rollers in the extended position.
The major defect of such constructions is that there is insufficient support to the rollers when in the extended position so that skating tends to be unstable. Also, due to the fact that the total support function is localized to a very small point in the central portion of the shoe body, these skates are not capable of supporting much weight and are therefor suitable only for very young children. For the same reason, these skates are extremely susceptable to malfunctions and damage, and generally provide a very short useful life.
Another defect of such shoe/skate combinations is that the rollers are generally not easily detachable from the shoe body so that when the supportive device fails, the combination becomes useless as either a skate or a shoe.
Yet another defect of such shoe/skate combinations is that as the rollers must be concealable in the body of the shoe and are generally not detachable therefrom, it is not possible to change different types of rollers or other skating accessories to provide a variety of skating effects.
The purpose of the present invention is to improve the above said defects and to provide a shoe with skating accessories that is of a very stable construction and which is far less susceptable to malfunctions, providing a greatly increased useful life.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shoe and skate combination wherein the skating accessories are easily attachable to and detachable from the shoe so that a variety of skating means are interchangeable for producing different skating effects.
It is yet another purpose of the present invention to provide a shoe and skate combination whereby support is distributed uniformly over the skate means, providing more stability and allowing persons of all ages to use the skate with a minimum chance of malfunction.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to increase the overall safety of a skate and more specifically to provide suitable stops which are located at both the front and rear portions of the skating means in such a way that they will not interfere with the walking function of the shoe when the skating means is removed.